


turn left

by Vennat



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: BAMF Klaus Hargreeves, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Gen, Good siblings, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, Klaus Has Levitation And Telekenesis, Klaus Has Other Powers, No Incest, Protective Klaus Hargreeves, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:46:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25832998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vennat/pseuds/Vennat
Summary: 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘈 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮. Klaus thinks, shoving down the hurt, the pain. He opens his mouth and lets bitter words flow.ORKlaus is adopted first.
Relationships: Allison & Ben & Diego & Number Five | The Boy & Klaus & Luther & Vanya Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Everyone
Comments: 33
Kudos: 388
Collections: Best of Umbrella Academy





	turn left

**Author's Note:**

> not me posting another unfinished fic... embarrassing.
> 
> anyways, pals, this one is gonna be 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥 so buckle up!!!! i've had this idea swimming around since November, but the way s2 treated Klaus kicked me into gear for getting this out there. guys... i'm so unbelievably excited about this one. 
> 
> as always, this story wouldn't be possible without @dearestspaghetti

Father had lectured him for over an hour on the meaning of teamwork and leadership. _Leader’s always followed orders. Leaders are always in charge of their team. Teams listen to their leader and follow their direction. Leaders are responsible for the wellbeing of their team._

One had had to look up many of those words in the dictionary when Father was done. Wellbeing. Responsibility.

One brought the dictionary to Five, who was a bit snotty, but he liked to tell people things that he knew, and One needed to know things. Father said leaders knew things.

“Five?” he asked dictionary cradled to his chest. “Can you help me with some words?”

Five looked up from his book. They were only 8, and yet Five would talk all the time of how much he preferred books over everyone being loud and noisy. As much as One liked other people, he could agree with the noisy thing. It always seemed like there were more people in a room than there should be, lingering on the edges of his vision. No one else seemed to notice them though, so he said nothing.

Five quirked his brows at him, then clenched his fist, stumbling across the room, in front of One, in a flash of blue. One grinned at him.

“You’re getting really good, Five! I can’t wait till my powers come in! Then I can join you and Six and Four and Seven and Two in training!” One babbled excitedly. Over the last two years, almost all of his siblings had begun to develop special abilities. Only he and Three had yet to develop theirs, but Father seemed confident that they would come soon, and One didn’t doubt it. He was, however, rather worried about how they would discover them. For almost every child, there had been an odd, unique set of circumstances in which they discovered their powers. Almost all of them had been fueled by anger in some way or another.

Two had thrown his shoe at One, and when he had run around the corner to dodge it, it had still thwacked him in the head. Four had gotten angry at Five for sitting in his favorite chair, and had lifted him from it and set him aside with almost no effort. Five had clenched his fists, leaped forward to toss a punch, and ended up sprawled halfway across the room. Six, however, had had tiny little tentacles coming from his stomach from a very young age and had mostly been working on mastering control ever since. 

Five smirked at him, ever pleased to receive praise, and leaned over One’s shoulder to look at where he was pointing.

“Wellbeing? It’s… like how someone is. Like when you meet someone and say “Hello, how are you?” You’re asking about their wellbeing.”

“Huh. Ok, thanks Five.” 

“Why are you asking? You’ve never liked reading.” 

“Father told me that it was time I started acting like a leader. He said because I’m Number One, I’m gonna be in charge when we start going on missions.”

Five raised an eyebrow at him.

“He really said you’d be leader?” 

One nodded emphatically.

“Yeah! I started looking up all sorts of words he said, and I’m gonna be the best leader ever! I’m gonna… lead you guys and stuff. It’s gonna be so cool.”

“Better you than Four or Two,” Five said, smiling slyly. “They’re a couple of meatheads.”

“Meatheads?”

“It means they only have muscles and no brains. Obviously, you have brains, because you’re using a dictionary. That means you’ll be a good leader.” Five said, with all the regality of a child who was ever-so-sure that their logic was sound. 

One laughed.

**☂︎**

  
  


Three had figured out her powers 3 days ago, and she had not stopped using them since. One generally tried to indulge her. When he had asked Six a few days ago what he thought being a leader was, Six had told him that leaders were selfless, and always put their team before themselves. They were kind, and they listened. 

One was trying very hard to be kind and to put Three before himself. But when she rumored Two into kicking Four’s shins for the fifth time in their oh-so-limited hour of freedom, starting another round of bickering, One finally snapped.

_“Enough!”_ he yelled, standing. Two, Three, and Four all startled from where they were sat in front of or on the couch in the attic. Five, Six, and Seven looked up too, from where they were spread across the corners and windowsills of the room reading. “Just be quiet, _please_. We get it Three, your powers are great.”

Three crossed her arms, staring smugly up at One. 

“You’re just jealous that I have powers, and you don’t. I bet yours will be something lame.”

“They will not!” One said angrily, tears filling his eyes. In truth, that’s what he had been worried would happen. How could he be a good leader without a good power? Three smirked.

“Your power will be something stupid, like crying a bunch. Useless.”

Three always had the best way with words in an argument, aiming for your sore spots. It made sense, considering her power.

“It will _NOT!”_ One said angrily, he stamped his foot again, except when he did it felt like a shockwave went through the room. He floated a few inches off the ground, windmilling his arms in panic. Across the room, Three went spinning into the air, flipping forward twice, before landing on the couch with an _oof._

One panicked, pushing his arms through the air like he was trying to swim downwards. He caught sight of his hands, glowing blue along the veins, and let out a squeak of surprise. The color seemed to suddenly drain away from his hands, and he set back on the ground unsteadily, collapsing into the chair he had stood from just moments ago once his knees buckled. A rush of exhaustion swept through him. 

“Go get Dad!” he heard someone say, and the world seemed to sway around him. Figures seemed to hover at the edge of his vision, colorless and formless, and after a moment One’s eyes slid shut. 

**☂︎**

  
  


Father said he had telekinesis and levitation. Father said he was powerful, maybe even more powerful than Seven. One wasn’t sure about that, because Seven had blown the room apart when she had gotten angry and discovered her powers. 

However, One did not say anything. One stood dutifully in front of his father as he detailed when One would train, as he told One that he would be one of his Father’s greatest achievements.

One did not think about the books he read in the Library, where fathers told their sons they loved them. One did not think about how his father referring to him as an “achievement” made him feel like one of the pretty butterflies pinned to a board they studied during science lessons.

**☂︎**

  
  


One did not like training. He had wanted so badly to join in when Seven talked about listening to tuning forks, of tapping on water glasses and playing with the sounds that came from them; when Six talked about dangling bits of string in front of his belly and luring the small creature in his chest out; when Four had talked about lifting his siblings onto his shoulders. 

There was no happiness in training anymore. Father said that, since they all had their powers now, they were to be trained for missions. Two stopped throwing blunt, pointless pieces of wood and began throwing metal throwing knives with their edges dull but the tip still sharp enough to scratch. Five was forced to leap across the room until he was shaking and sweating, and then still he was forced to leap. 

One was left to work on summoning his powers on command. His results were spotty, less than satisfactory for Father, and the rush of shame at Father’s disappointed look pushed him to do better.

**☂︎**

  
  


It’s so hard to make himself feel like a leader when it seems like Father was actively working against them. He pitted them together every chance he got, it seemed. They raced each other, fought each other in training, and now the final straw-- Father was forcing them to put each other in danger. 

Today, in training, Father had One stand against the wall. He handed Two a handful of knives-- real ones. Two had graduated from blunted edges a month ago.

“This is a joint training session,” Father said, readying his red leather notebook, embossed with his initials. Pogo stood at his side, an ever so slight frown on his face. “Number Two, you will be practicing your aim. You are to aim for the red X above Number One’s head. If Number Two’s aim shall prove unsatisfactory, you are to stop the weapons from harming you with your abilities, Number One. Any injury on Number One shall result in a punishment for both of you. Begin.”

One hunched a little, trying to pull his head a little farther from the target, and across the room, at such an angle, he could not get a good look at Two’s face. He could, however, see the expression on everyone else’s, and the gray pallor to Two’s face. 

“I’ll be fine, Two, I’ve been practicing lots, and so have you!” One said, forcing levity into his tone. 

“Silence, Number One,” Father said firmly. One didn’t say anything else, but he smiled at Two and pushed down all the fear he was feeling. If there was one thing in the world he could trust, it was his siblings. He knew them like the back of his hand, and though Two was a little slap-happy, he had never intentionally hurt One. He would be fine.

**☂︎**

  
  


The exercise could have gone… better. But a bandage or two from Mom and One was fine. Two, on the other hand, looked devastated. One was certain that the long lecture given to all of them, but pointed at One and Two, had not helped. 

“I’m s-s-s-s-sorry.” Two managed, sliding up beside One as they trudged from the training room. Reginald had slipped through a door to the side, and One knew they wouldn’t see him for a while. One mustered a smile.

“It’s alright, Two, I know it wasn’t on purpose. And it wasn’t like you had a choice.” One slipped his hand into Two’s, and Two reflexively gripped back. Two had always received physical affection the best out of all his siblings. 

“Let’s go to my room, guys,” One said, forcing the smile brighter as his siblings turned to him. “I’ve got a surprise for you all.”

It was something he had been considering for a few days, and he knew now was the perfect time. 

One’s siblings followed him up the stairs, to the biggest room on the end that he called his own. His room was clean, as all of theirs were, but he had the least amount of personality to it. Seven’s had her collection of noise-making instruments, every surface in Five’s room was covered in papers filled with scribbles, Six’s was stacked with books, Four’s with weights, Three’s with drawings of dresses she wished she could wear, and Two’s with a huge collection of a million different items he had found worked with his abilities. One’s had almost nothing, except for a small, pretty teacup he had pilfered from a rarely-used hallway’s china cabinet. 

One’s siblings followed him into his room, settling on his bed or the floor, or even on the empty space on top of his dresser if you were Five. Everyone’s attention settled onto him as he perched on the edge of his bed, the only part of it not taken up by Six or Seven. 

“I have a surprise, but first I want to make a rule if you guys think it’s ok,” One looked around and found no dissent on their faces. “Ok, I want you guys’ input for rules too. But I’ve got a few ideas. One, if training is bad, I want us to be together after.”

One looked down at his hands in his lap. He wasn’t sure if any of them had taken the fact that Father wanted to make him the leader as seriously as he had, but he had thought about how to be a good leader almost every day since Father had told him. 

“I want us to be a good team. And Father-- Father wants me to lead you guys. I want to be a good leader… but I want us to be siblings, too. Father’s training makes us strong and teaches us how to fight, but it isn’t helping us be a team. But if we stick together, and we’re there for each other even when we feel… gross, and angry, and hurt, we can be a good team. We can be a _family.”_ One looked down at his fingers, twisting and twisting around each other. “My only other rule is that you come to _me._ Father is… Father. If you’re worried about something, or, or Father did something to you, or said something to you, or _anything…_ I want you to talk to me. I want to… I _will_ protect you.”

One finally looked up, and almost all of his siblings were smiling at him, a few of their eyes glassy with tears. 

“Yes.” Said Six, from where he was pressed into Seven’s at the head of One’s bed. “I don’t want Father to get between us.”

“Me either,” said Seven, and One felt his cheeks pinch as he smiled, hard.

“You’re our Number One,” said Two easily, Three and Four nodding in agreement on either side of him. “Our leader. We stick together.”

One felt tears burn the backs of his eyes, and he laughed even as he wiped them from his cheeks. 

“And now, the surprise!” He said, spreading his arms theatrically. He shoved Six off of his pillow, ignoring his dramatic grumblings so that he could pull a small folded piece of paper out from under it. “Now, I am open to suggestions on all of these, but _I_ have picked out a name for everyone.”

One presented the list with a flourish and was met with confused expressions on his sibling’s faces. 

“We… already have names?” Three said in confusion and got mixed agreement around the room. One’s enthusiasm dimmed somewhat. 

“Numbers aren’t names. I… I don’t care what Father says. All the heroes and characters in books have _real_ names.”

A few glances were shot at the doorway and the corners of the room, where they all knew the cameras were, at One’s statement, but Father didn’t come immediately charging into the room. 

“For Two: Diego.” One started, trying to draw their mood back towards the warmness and levity it had been before. Two tilts his head side to side, considering, before nodding in agreement. 

“For Three: Alexandra.” Three considers, shakes her head. “Allison?” Three lights up. 

“It sounds so… regular,” she says, reverently. “Allison.” 

“Allison,” Four confirms, tasting the new word on his tongue. 

“Allison.” his other siblings echo, trying it. Allison grins. 

“That’s me. One day everyone will know the name Allison Hargreeves. I’ll be a movie star.” One smiles at the excitement of his siblings, and behind him Seven giggles. 

“For Four: Luther.”

Four immediately preened a little, obviously happy with the name, and Tw--Diego reach across Allison to bump their fists together like they’d read about in a book. 

“For Five: Aiden.”

Five considered for a moment before shaking his head. 

“No name for me. I like Five.” 

“If you’re sure.” One agrees easily. A name is, of course, a nice gesture of individuality, but is no better than a number if Five does not want it. 

“For Six: Benjamin.” 

“Benjamin…” Six says in reply. “Benjamin… Benji… Ben.” he settles on, and One smiles at him. 

“Ben it is. And last, but most certainly not least, for Seven: Vanya.”

Seven sits up, and Ben slumps onto his elbow in the space she had previously occupied.

“Vanya,” she says wonderingly. “It sounds… special.” 

“Just like you.” One replies easily, and Vanya smiles brightly at him.

“Diego. Allison. Luther. Five. Ben. Vanya. The Umbrella Academy.” One looks at each of his siblings in turn, and each of them is smiling and happy and he wishes so desperately that he could keep them this happy forever. 

“And you? The leader of the Umbrella Academy needs a name too.” Five says. One shrugged. 

“I couldn’t find any names that I liked in the book, so.” One shrugs. 

“Book? I don’t think there are any books of names in the Library.” Ben says questioningly, having spent a huge amount of time in said library. One shrugs, folding the paper several times over and avoiding his sibling’s eyes. 

“It’s possible that I found it in Mom’s books.” One confesses, opening up the top drawer of his dresser to withdraw it from under a stack of his clothes. The cover reads _1,000 Unique Baby Names for Your Little One!_ He sets it on the dresser behind him, next to Five.

“So, Allison Hargreeves, tell us about your fabulous movie career,” Vanya says, rolling onto her belly and kicking her legs in the air. Ben laughs and mimics her pose. 

“Tell us what you’re gonna do with all your fabulous wealth, Allison!” He says. 

One settles against the wall, facing his siblings, and lets the sounds of their happiness wash over him. 

**☂︎**

  
  


When Grace climbs the stairs later and tells them it is time for bed, One does not see Five swipe the book of names on his way out.

**☂︎**

  
  


When One leaves Father’s office the next day, Five is waiting for him. 

“Come on,” he says, and when he holds out a hand for One to take he does so without hesitation. Five tugs him up the stairs, and they climb two flights to get to the attic. More than anything right now, One wants to go to his room and write down everything he can remember from Father’s newest lecture, and then work on ways to try and act out those things. But if Five wants or needs him for something, it can wait. 

When Five pushes open the door to the attic, all of One’s siblings are there squashed on the couch. Luther and Diego quit poking each other as soon as One steps in the door, and he suppresses a smile at the long-suffering look on Vanya’s face, stuck between them. Five pushes him to sit in a chair facing the couch and blinks smoothly to settle on the arm of the couch like a gargoyle. 

“We have something for you. From all of us.” Allison says once everyone else quiets down a bit. “We picked a name for you,” she says without preamble, and One blinks. 

“For me?” he says, thrown off-kilter. They all nod. 

“We decided to return the favor, and we worked together to pick a name for you,” Ben explains, and One feels something squeeze in his chest. He must be doing something right by his siblings, for them to want to work together even without him there.

“I-- Thank you,” he says, smile hurting his cheeks.

“Y-you don’t even k-know y-your name yet! D-don’t thank us y-yet!” Diego interjects, then elbows Five (almost off of his perch) “you tell him!”

“Vanya should,” Five argued, elbowing Diego back viciously, “she’s the one who found it.” 

“Someone else!” Vanya shook her head, blushing.

“It’s Klaus.” Ben finally said, looking fed up with his siblings arguing. His siblings quieted down, looing at One for his reaction. 

“Klaus,” he said wonderingly, feeling the name settle around his shoulders like a second skin. “Klaus.” 

“Don’t cry!” Allison cried, startling him from his introspection. “We can always pick a different one!” around her, his siblings babbled over each other, agreeing with her and offering different suggestions that were lost in the noise. Klaus laughed, startling his siblings into silence, and wiped at his face. 

“I love it. Thank you, guys.” he stood from his seat, and before Five could think to blink away, wrapped him in a hug, letting go and moving onto the next sibling before he could squirm away. He moved down the couch, all of his siblings opening their arms in anticipation of the hug, making his heart feel warm. 

_Klaus_ would be a good leader and protect and defend his family with everything he had. 

**☂︎**

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> wow wasn't that such a nice, wonderful chapter! i really love it when all the siblings get along and are happy! :) 
> 
> anyways... subscribe, comment your thoughts, and drop a kudos, please? i will attempt to finish this before classes start but there's no set updating schedule. 
> 
> twitter: @fullmetaIelric (the second L is and i)


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